Gaslit Nation

In Part II of our conversation, Nick Schwellenbach, a Senior Investigator at the Project on Government Oversight, shares his insights from his time in the U.S. Office of Special Counsel–a government agency set up after Watergate, meant to protect us from the next Nixon. So, what happened? In this week's bonus show, we're looking for checks-and-balances. With a grifter-in-chief enriching himself and his family, following in the footsteps of overthrown Kremlin-backed kleptocrat Viktor Yanukovych, we're especially curious about the Hatch Act–whatever happened to that? This Thanksgiving, we're grateful for our Gaslit Nation listeners with us in the fight of our lives, for a livable future for our families and the world. We wish you all a restful holiday season, as we charge up for battle in the 2026 Midterms–building another blue tsunami together. Join our community of listeners and get bonus shows, Q&A sessions, invites to exclusive events like our Monday political salons at 4pm ET over Zoom, ad free listening, group chats with other listeners, ways to shape the show, and more! Sign up at Patreon.com/Gaslit! Art is a big source of our power. We're proud to share with you a Kickstarter by longtime Gaslit Nation listener Leslie Nuss to help her release her next album, Ride at Dawn. Check out and support her work here!: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/leslienuss/ride-at-dawn-the-new-12-track-vinyl-lp-cd-by-leslie-nuss/posts EVENTS AT GASLIT NATION: December 1st 4pm ET – Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky + Total Resistance by H. Von Dach – Poetry and guerrilla strategy: tools for survival and defiance. Minnesota Signal group for Gaslit Nation listeners in the state to find each other: join on Patreon. Vermont Signal group for Gaslit Nation listeners in the state to find each other: join on Patreon. Arizona-based listeners launched a Signal group for others in the state to connect, join on Patreon. Indiana-based listeners launched a Signal group for others in the state to join, join on Patreon. Florida-based listeners are going strong meeting in person. Be sure to join their Signal group, join on Patreon. Gaslit Nation Salons take place Mondays 4pm ET over Zoom and the first ~40 minutes are recorded and shared on Patreon.com/Gaslit for our community

This week we go into the dark heart of American Gestapo: Gregory Bovino's Border Patrol, which pushes ICE to become even more aggressive in his fascist feverdream. Here to help us make sense of this hellscape is Nick Schwellenbach, a Senior Investigator at the Project on Government Oversight and former Communications Director at the U.S. Office of Special Counsel–a government agency set up after Watergate, meant to protect us from the next Nixon–more on that in this week's bonus show out Thursday. Bovino grew up a Border Patrol fanboy idolizing fascist fiction and now stalks American cities in a Nazi-style trench coat with a taxpayer-funded film crew glamorizing his violent raids. Like Trump is a showman, Bovino is cruelty as a recruitment tool to consolidate power. Under his un-checked leadership, his border patrol army operates deep inside the U.S., smashing car windows, kidnapping U.S. citizens, and rounding up tens of thousands of people, including veterans and children, into detention centers where deaths are spiking at unprecedented rates. With the help of questions submitted by a Gaslit Nation listener (thank you, Isabel!) we go into all the pressing questions about Bovino's Border Patrol and also ICE, including what happened to the children who disappeared under Trump's first term and what can be done to protect vulnerable immigrants today? As you listen to this episode, which opens with a clip of Bovino justifying shooting protesters with pepper balls, keep in mind Republicans gave ICE, which works closely with Bovino's Border Patrol, $75 billion over the next four years. They're also operating under aggressive weekly quotas. But is their war chest also for general population control? For our bonus episode this week, we look at the safeguards that could have prevented Trump's return and why they didn't. To listen to the bonus, subscribe to our Patreon at the Truth-Teller level ($5/month) or higher. We are extremely grateful to our listeners who are keeping us afloat during a very difficult economic time. Every bit of support helps give us the freedom to be independent and tell the truth, so thank you again for making Gaslit Nation possible! If America climbs out of this black hole, it will be because people like you, our Gaslit Nation listeners, refused to look away. Want to hear Gaslit Nation ad-free? Join our community of listeners for bonus shows, exclusive Q&A sessions, our group chat, invites to live events like our Monday political salons at 4pm ET over Zoom, and more! Sign up at Patreon.com/Gaslit! EVENTS AT GASLIT NATION: December 1st 4pm ET – Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky + Total Resistance by H. Von Dach – Poetry and guerrilla strategy: tools for survival and defiance. Minnesota Signal group for Gaslit Nation listeners in the state to find each other: join on Patreon. Vermont Signal group for Gaslit Nation listeners in the state to find each other: join on Patreon. Arizona-based listeners launched a Signal group for others in the state to connect, join on Patreon. Indiana-based listeners launched a Signal group for others in the state to join, join on Patreon. Florida-based listeners are going strong meeting in person. Be sure to join their Signal group, join on Patreon. Gaslit Nation Salons take place Mondays 4pm ET over Zoom and the first ~40 minutes are recorded and shared on Patreon.com/Gaslit for our community Show Notes: Where ICE Has Taken The Most People | On The Grid | WIRED https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD9ETC80HDA NPR report: This year was the deadliest since 2005 for people in ICE custody https://www.expressnews.com/news/border-mexico/article/ice-deadliest-year-npr-21119815.php Big Budget Act Creates a "Deportation-Industrial Complex": The result will be a lopsided, enforcement-only machine that will be hard to dismantle. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/big-budget-act-creates-deportation-industrial-complex Man arrested by Ice dies in jail cell in Long Island, New York: This article is more than 1 month old Officials in Nassau county confirmed death of 42-year-old man to Newsday but declined to share details https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/19/ice-death-long-island-ny Trump officials launch ICE effort to deport unaccompanied migrant children https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-administration-directs-ice-agents-find-deport-unaccompanied-migrant-2025-02-23/ Federal judge says border patrol chief admitted he lied, in ruling limiting federal agents' use of force in Chicago https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/us/gregory-bovino-deposition-chicago-immigration Greg Bovino's Border Patrol Agents Use Disproportionate Force, Data Shows https://www.pogo.org/investigations/greg-bovinos-border-patrol-agents-use-disproportionate-force-data-shows Fighting for a government that serves the people. https://www.pogo.org/ 8-year-old girl dies in Border Patrol custody in Texas, as agency struggles with overcrowding https://apnews.com/article/border-patrol-child-custody-death-harlingen-2e2b27eeb3da669ee17241b8b3ee9ee2 Detainee Death Reporting https://www.ice.gov/detain/detainee-death-reporting CBP Fatal Encounters Tracker https://www.aclutx.org/en/cbp-fatal-encounters-tracker FACT FOCUS: Claims that more than 300,000 migrant children are missing lack context https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-misinformation-migrant-children-missing-7ab0cea2fd2238346197429e952baa8b How they did it: The New York Times exposes migrant child labor exploitation across 50 states https://journalistsresource.org/media/migrant-children-labor-abuse-goldmith/ Homeland Security agents rescue migrant teen sisters from sex traffickers — after they arrived in US as unaccompanied minors https://nypost.com/2025/04/29/us-news/hsi-agents-rescue-teen-migrant-sisters-from-sex-traffickers/ Gaps in Sponsor Screening and Followup Raise Safety Concerns for Unaccompanied Children https://oig.hhs.gov/reports/all/2024/gaps-in-sponsor-screening-and-followup-raise-safety-concerns-for-unaccompanied-children/ Trump's False Claim of Missing Immigrant Children https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/07/16/trump-false-claim-missing-immigrant-children Under Joe Biden, Have 85,000 Undocumented Children Gone 'Missing'? https://www.newsweek.com/under-joe-biden-undocumented-children-missing-1812728 Democratic Women's Caucus Open Letter https://juliabrownley.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/dwc-letter-to-dhs-on-ice-impersonators-and-women-s-safety.pdf How ICE Raids Are Making It Easier for Civilian Men to Assault Immigrant Women: Kylie Cheung argues in this op-ed that a rash of cases of men dressing as plainclothes ICE agents and assaulting immigrant women is possible because ICE agents operate with impunity. https://www.teenvogue.com/story/men-dressed-as-ice-agents-to-assault-immigrant-women-horrifying-trend Houston man pretended to be ICE agent to rob driver, charging docs allege https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/crime/article/houston-ice-agent-robbery-20395157.php North Dakota man accused of impersonating an ICE officer when jail staff released an inmate to him https://apnews.com/article/north-dakota-immigration-williston-ice-agent-f89f0f070e5c39cd763a5018017ff332 US sees spate of arrests of civilians impersonating Ice officers https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/28/civilians-impersonating-ice-officers ICE Annual Report Fiscal Year 2022 https://www.ice.gov/doclib/eoy/iceAnnualReportFY2022.pdf Border agent charged with child sex trafficking, fraud in Cochise County https://tucson.com/news/local/border/article_5e596767-4575-485b-88e8-0a6265e5bb41.html The Green Monster: How the Border Patrol became America's most out-of-control law enforcement agency. https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/10/border-patrol-the-green-monster-112220/ FBI Warns of Criminals Posing as ICE, Urges Agents to ID Themselves: In a bulletin to law enforcement agencies, the FBI said criminal impersonators are exploiting ICE's image and urged nationwide coordination to distinguish real operations from fakes. https://www.wired.com/story/fbi-warns-of-criminals-posing-as-ice-urges-agents-to-id-themselves/ How a tragic family secret turned Greg Bovino from a quiet country boy into the force of Trump's unflinching border patrol crackdown https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15288355/greg-bovino-border-patrol-family-secret-donald-trump-immigration.html Revealed: Trump administration retreats on combating human trafficking and child exploitation https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/17/trump-human-trafficking-programs-cut Trump administration takes hundreds of migrant children out of their homes, into government custody https://archive.ph/qc65g#selection-2109.7-2109.106 Oversight Agency Says 32,000 Unaccompanied Children Are Missing. But Are They? https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/blog/are-32000-unaccompanied-children-missing/ Judge rules against Department of Homeland Security: "Given the inconsistencies between the BWC footage and the use of force reports, with the BWC footage undermining what agents put in their reports, the Court cannot rely on Parra's [who is Bovino's deputy] broad generalizations of protesters' actions or Defendants' responses to those actions. Turning to Bovino, the Court specifically finds his testimony not credible. Bovino appeared evasive over the three days of his deposition, either providing "cute" responses to Plaintiffs' counsel's questions or outright lying." "To the extent that agents use ChatGPT to create their use of force reports, this further undermines their credibility and may explain the inaccuracy of these reports when viewed in light of the BWC footage." https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ilnd.487571/gov.uscourts.ilnd.487571.281.0_3.pdf

November is a month when communities around the world commemorate the Holodomor–Stalin's genocide famine in Ukraine that, in 1933, starved millions to death, the vast majority of them Ukrainians. Conservative estimates place the death toll at 3.9 million. During the famine, a death certificate listed the cause of death simply as "Ukrainian." In the years leading up to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine today, Vladimir Putin's KGB dictatorship revived the cult of mass-murdering dictator Joseph Stalin–producing propaganda textbooks, putting up Stalin statues, and outlawing acknowledgment of the fact that Stalin helped launch World War II by invading Poland two weeks after Nazi Germany, then holding joint military parades with the Nazis. Stalin monuments and billboards are today in regions of Ukraine under Russian occupation. Back in the early 1930s, as Stalin laid the groundwork for his man-made famine–a diabolically efficient way of killing millions before the invention of the atomic bomb–the New York Times praised his regime. Walter Duranty, the paper's Moscow bureau chief, won a Pulitzer for Soviet propaganda and went on to gaslight readers by insisting, "There is no famine." Challenging the media establishment, political elites, and industry leaders eager to profit from helping Stalin modernize his empire was a young Welsh journalist, Gareth Jones. Idealistic and courageous, he risked his life and career to become a vital independent witness to the genocide. His story is told in the film Mr. Jones and in the award-winning graphic novel In the Shadow of Stalin: The Story of Mr. Jones. The film was developed with support from historical advisors, including Timothy Snyder, whose classic Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin opens with Jones's story. To commemorate the Holodomor this year, we're sharing the audio from a video interview from September 2024 featuring In the Shadow of Stalin: The Story of Mr. Jones, which recently won a Ringo Award for Best Nonfiction and received the honor of being a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection. (You can find the video in the show notes). Andrea Chalupa of Gaslit Nation, the writer/producer of the Mr. Jones film and comic In the Shadow of Stalin, speaks with Anastasia Ulanowicz, an Associate Professor of English at the University of Florida who specializes in comics as a medium for personal and historical memory. If you're looking for a way to help Ukraine, consider purchasing a copy of In the Shadow of Stalin: The Story of Mr. Jones for your local school or library. Hundreds of copies have already been given to members of Congress and sold to raise funds for Razom for Ukraine–Andrea has given away so many copies that she will never see any royalties for this as those books must be paid off to the publisher to cover their costs. When you purchase a book to give away to raise awareness, you're supporting Ukraine, not the author. Any effort to help spread this story is deeply appreciated. For those who haven't seen Mr. Jones, it's available here, and Andrea's short documentary Stalin's Secret Genocide–which screened at the United Nations in 2016 and features Timothy Snyder; Anne Applebaum; Norman Naimark of Stanford, author of Stalin's Genocides; Serhii Plokhii of Harvard, author of The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine; and other leading historians–is available here. Thank you to everyone who continues to raise their voices for Ukraine during the country's existential fight for survival–and for the freedom of the world against Russian fascist lawlessness. Show Notes: Buy a copy for your local school or library: In the Shadow of Stalin: The Story of Mr. Jones By Andrea Chalupa, Illustrated by Ivan Rodrigues https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/In-the-Shadow-of-Stalin-The-Story-of-Mr-Jones/Andrea-Chalupa/9781637152775 Watch the video discussion of the Mr. Jones graphic novel In the Shadow of Stalin: The Story of Mr. Jones: https://education.holodomor.ca/new-webinar-holodomor-hot-off-the-press/ Watch Stalin's Secret Genocide: https://youtu.be/Sr5WkhEiqcY Where to watch Mr. Jones http://www.samuelgoldwynfilms.com/mr-jones/ Music: Prayer for Ukraine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn0_p1ZR3hg&list=RDzn0_p1ZR3hg&start_radio=1

Here's a clip from last week's Gaslit Nation Salon, where I lay out what it will take for us to stop reactionary elections that punish whichever party is in power: the political pendulum swinging between Christian nationalists to establishment Democrats back to Christian nationalists. If we're serious about defeating fascism and overcoming the many crises we face, we need real political stability built from the ground up, not another cycle of rage-voting whiplash. Because if we don't confront these systemic issues, the voters will continue to punish whichever party is in power, and, as we saw in 2016 and 2024, this just makes everything worse, for everyone. The clip also unpacks my conversation with the great E. Jean Carroll, an interview that sparked a lot of questions and debate among our listeners. You can listen to the full interview here on Patreon, here, or wherever you get your podcasts. Last week's full salon discussion will be available on Monday morning for our Patreon members, along with a Zoom link for Monday's salon at 4pm ET. Come vent or tell us what's happening in your corner of the country. EVENTS AT GASLIT NATION: December 1st 4pm ET Book Club Discussion – Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky + Total Resistance by H. Von Dach – Poetry and guerrilla strategy: tools for survival and defiance. Minnesota Signal group for Gaslit Nation listeners in the state to find each other: available on Patreon. Vermont Signal group for Gaslit Nation listeners in the state to find each other: available on Patreon. Arizona-based listeners launched a Signal group for others in the state to connect: available on Patreon. Indiana-based listeners launched a Signal group for others in the state to join: available on Patreon. Florida-based listeners are going strong meeting in person. Be sure to join their Signal group: available on Patreon. Gaslit Nation Salons take place Mondays 4pm ET over Zoom and are recorded and shared on Patreon.com/Gaslit for our community Coming soon! Patreon members at the Democracy Defender ($10/month) tier and higher will receive a PDF of Andrea's book Orwell and The Refugees: The Untold Story of Animal Farm. Coming soon! Patreon members at the Fact Checker ($25/month) tier and higher will receive a new behind-the-scenes look of Mr. Jones, directed by three-time Academy Award-nominee Agnieszka Holland. Mrs. Orwell – Andrea's new graphic novel on Eileen O'Shaughnessy Blair, the Irish-English poet, wife, and muse of George Orwell who made him into the artist he always longed to be, is out in April. Pre-order your copy here. Patreon supporters at the Freedom Fighter ($50/month) tier and higher will receive signed copies. Thank you to everyone who supports the show – we could not make Gaslit Nation without you.

In this extremely enraged episode of Follow the Money, we ask the only question that actually matters in Trump's second crime spree through history: who is getting rich off of Trump chaos and the world's misery? Russian mafia expert Olga Lautman of Trump Tyranny Tracker and Andrea Chalupa of Gaslit Nation together trace a financial pipeline of blood money that runs from the Kremlin, through Qatar, through crypto, straight into Trump World and its favorite oligarch bagmen. While Ukrainian kids are protesting, begging the world not to look away as Russia bombs their playgrounds and kindergartens, Trump's MAGA lackeys, like Matt Gaetz protege Rep. Anna Luna, are in Florida huddling with Putin's money man and messenger, Kirill Dmitriev, sketching out yet another fake "peace plan" that is nothing but a genocide plan for Ukraine and a launchpad for a larger war with Europe. In a blatant crime of access journalism that would make Michael Wolff jealous, Axios published Kremlin/MAGA disinformation by calling it a "peace proposal." In reality, it's a Kremlin bribe: sell off Ukraine's land, launder the theft through "diplomacy," and cash out in crypto for Trump and his longtime real estate buddy-turned-Kremlin fixer Steve Witkoff, and their sons. Their plan is for Ukraine to give up Donbas and Crimea, which suffers under Soviet-style repression, disarm Ukraine' military, and expect the world to recognize stolen land as Russian. In exchange, Trump, Witkoff, and their sons would allegedly get crypto via Qatar and a chance to turn genocide into an investment opportunity. All of this is happening while Russia openly kidnaps Ukrainian children, erases their identities, and feeds them into a military pipeline of Putin's forever war, while half of Europe anxiously prepares for war with Moscow. Follow the money, and you see the gaslighting of Trump once again being bribed to call the Kremlin's foreign policy his own. Be sure to follow us on our new YouTube channel to help us get the word out about Follow the Money! https://www.youtube.com/@FollowTheMoneyTrail Want to hear bonus shows and listen to Gaslit Nation ad-free? Join our community of listeners for live events like our Monday 4pm ET salons over Zoom, bonus shows, exclusive Q&A sessions, our group chat, and more! Sign up at Patreon.com/Gaslit! Show Notes: Trump Tyranny Tracker: https://trumptyrannytracker.substack.com/ Putin ally suggests Seychelles meeting with Erik Prince more than chance encounter over a beer https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/putin-ally-seychelles-meeting-erik-prince-chance-encounter/story?id=55408942 The Story Behind Jared Kushner's Curious Acceptance Into Harvard https://www.propublica.org/article/the-story-behind-jared-kushners-curious-acceptance-into-harvard Kushner got emails about WikiLeaks, Russia in 2016, lawmakers say https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/16/jared-kushner-wikileaks-emails-245197 Trump's Mideast Envoy Steve Witkoff & Sons Blur Peace & Profit, from Real Estate to Crypto Deals https://www.democracynow.org/2025/10/3/debra_kamin_steve_witkoff_real_estate Trump and special envoy Witkoff stand to reap rewards from official business https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/30/trump-steve-witkoff-envoy George Nader arrested on child pornography charges: Nader, a well-connected Middle East fixer, accused of having sexually explicit pictures of children on his mobile phone. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/6/4/george-nader-arrested-on-child-pornography-charges Former Trump lobbyist from Lake Norman charged with distribution of child porn https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/former-trump-lobbyist-lake-norman-193651678.html Maryland delegate for Trump charged with child pornography and possession of illegal gun and explosives https://www.cnn.com/2016/05/19/politics/trump-delegate-child-porn-gun-explosives Former Trump Commerce Department official and Turning Point USA ex-employee sentenced to 5.5 years in prison for child pornography possession https://www.businessinsider.com/former-trump-commerce-official-pleads-guilty-child-porn-charge-2022-10 Former GOP Hill aide pleads guilty in child porn case Ruben Verastigui, 27, faces 12 years or more in prison under a deal with prosecutors. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/09/former-hill-aide-pleads-guilty-child-porn-498937

E. Jean Carroll, a veteran magazine columnist and author of 'Not My Type', shares her powerful journey of confronting Donald Trump in court over a civil rape and defamation case. She reveals the complexities of legal battles and the humiliation tactics used against survivors. Carroll discusses the long-lasting effects of her assault, the barriers for women speaking out, and the media's complicity in protecting powerful men. With humor and strength, she emphasizes grassroots action and the importance of truth in the fight for justice.

Two weeks ago, Gaslit Nation pointed out that Vance is grooming the Christian nationalist movement to accept him as Trump's replacement. Turns out Vance knew–they all knew–that the Epstein paper trail was radioactive. The House released explosive Epstein documents that confirm what Gaslit Nation listeners already knew: the real story is not what's been revealed, but what's still being buried. We will continue to unpack this story as it develops, including the Kremlin connection as Epstein tried to advise Russia when it came to Trump. For now, the Big Takeaways: The emails released came from the Epstein estate. So what might Trump's DOJ and FBI be sitting on?: Photos, videos, and unredacted FBI and CIA files. Miami Herald reporter Julie K. Brown, whose investigations helped bring down Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, and the resignation of Trump labor secretary Alex Acosta who gave Epstein a "sweetheart deal" and was rewarded with a White House cabinet position, confirmed that thousands of records remain hidden, including: Epstein's original 2008 sex-trafficking indictment draft Search warrants from 2005 and 2019 raids Full lists of possible suspects and accomplices Witness statements and FBI and CIA files Autopsy and investigatory interviews into Epstein's death in prison The new release contains an April 2011 email from Epstein to Maxwell indicating that she misled the DOJ: she knew Trump had spent hours at Epstein's mansion with one of his victims. Epstein himself confirmed Trump's guilt, writing: "I have met some very bad people, none as bad as Trump." Epstein confirms that Trump knew about his pedophile ring. Of course he knew: That's why they were friends. The Epstein/Trump dump exposes Larry Summers, Clinton's Treasury Secretary and an economic adviser to Obama, decrying the MeToo movement in a private email to Epstein and making a sexist joke about women being stupid. Summers was the former president of Harvard University. Michael Wolff, media gossip profiteer and Trump whisperer, provided Epstein and sometimes Trump via Epstein with media consulting–in exchange for access to write his bestselling books. He was even Epstein's behind-the-scenes PR fixer during the Miami Herald investigations. Given that Epstein's victims have successfully sued banks for managing Epstein's human trafficking money, expect to see cases brought against Wolff. MAGA world is imploding. Trump huddled in the Situation Room with Pam Bondi, Kash Patel, and Lauren Boebert to stop the House vote. Boebert reportedly refused–likely because she faces a tough re-election campaign in a blue wave year. A new Democratic majority that finally includes Rep. Adelita Grijalva of Arizona will get their House vote to force the release of the full Epstein files. Once it passes the House, it still needs to clear 60 votes in the Senate. Trump is expected to veto it–after he and the MAGA disinformation machine ran on releasing the Epstein files, even accusing Biden of molesting his own daughter. For our bonus episode this week, we include the launch of Follow the Money, a new Gaslit Nation spinoff with Russian mafia expert Olga Lautman. In our first episode, we trace the Epstein-Trump financial nexus and expose the global corruption machine funding fascism. To listen, subscribe on YouTube, follow our new YouTube channel Follow the Money, and subscribe to Gaslit Nation on Patreon at the Truth-Teller level or higher. Every bit of support keeps us free to tell the truth, follow the money, and name the monsters. Thank you for making Gaslit Nation possible. Want to hear Gaslit Nation ad-free? Join our community of listeners for bonus shows, exclusive Q&A sessions, our group chat, invites to live events like our Monday political salons at 4pm ET over Zoom, and more! Sign up at Patreon.com/Gaslit! Show Notes: Subscribe to Andrea's new show with Russian mafia expert Olga Lautman: Follow the Money on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@FollowTheMoneyTrail Lawrence: In newly public emails Epstein says 'of course' Trump 'knew about the girls' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ik07YmrDJA4 In Matt Gaetz Scandal, Circumstances Left Teen Vulnerable to Exploitation A 17-year-old with a homeless parent wanted money for braces and ended up having sex for money with powerful men. She wants the public to have a fuller understanding of how she was victimized. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/13/us/politics/in-matt-gaetz-scandal-circumstances-left-girl-vulnerable-to-exploitation.html?unlocked_article_code=1.008.uayI.Sj1gT9qpKAZS&smid=url-share Is Donald Trump Dying? JD Vance Seems to Think So https://gaslitnation.libsyn.com/is-donald-trump-dying-jd-vance-seems-to-think-so Fact Check: Posts Claim Contents of 'Ashley Biden's Diary' Have Been Verified. Here Are the Facts https://www.yahoo.com/news/fact-check-posts-claim-contents-181600349.html https://x.com/yashar/status/1988623778146848967 https://x.com/matthewstoller/status/1988690518323429848 https://x.com/DavidShuster/status/1988728034426552451 https://x.com/jkbjournalist/status/1988747933047562503 https://x.com/allenanalysis/status/1988740115087159604 Ghislaine Maxwell told DOJ Trump never did anything concerning around her: Sources https://abcnews.go.com/US/trump-administration-considers-releasing-transcripts-doj-interview-ghislaine/story?id=124383957 This appears to be Epstein's response to @jkbjournalist.bsky.social 's Miami Herald report — www.miamiherald.com/news/local/a... — and involves a discussion with Michael Wolff about "plac[ing] a story." Wolff: "They've won the high ground—young, vulnerable, poor girls." https://bsky.app/profile/chrisgeidner.bsky.social/post/3m5hvne377s22 White House downplays new Epstein emails that mention Trump https://www.npr.org/2025/11/12/nx-s1-5605582/epstein-files-release-trump-email-grijalva-massie Jeffrey Epstein claimed he gave Russians insight into Trump Newly released emails show the late convicted sex offender's extensive network of foreign contacts, whom he corresponded with about Trump's policy decisions. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/12/jeffrey-epstein-donald-trump-russia-emails-00648919?mod=djemCapitalJournalDaybreak The DOJ says it won't release any more 'Epstein Files.' Here's what the government is still keeping secret. https://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-epstein-files-records-trump-admin-keeping-secret-may-release-2025-6 Perversion of Justice https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article238237729.html Mimi Herald, New York Times seek to unseal records on Jeffrey Epstein's estate Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article311986109.html Lawsuits against banks with Epstein ties may shed new light on financier's crimes Experts say claim banks enabled Epstein will be difficult to prove but other outcomes could provide solace to victims https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/27/jeffrey-epstein-lawsuit-us-banks Legal dispute with financiers of 'Top Gun: Maverick' casts spotlight on controversial Russian oligarch https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2023-01-03/top-gun-maverick-russian-oligarch-new-republic-pictures-dmitry-rybolovlev When a trans woman first accused Jeffrey Epstein of rape, the media mocked her https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/07/when-a-trans-woman-first-accused-jeffrey-epstein-of-the-media-mocked-her/ Felon Freed by Trump Is Sentenced Again, This Time to 27 Months A Brooklyn federal judge found that Jonathan Braun had violated the rules of his release by assaulting a nanny, swinging an IV pole at a nurse and dodging tolls in luxury cars. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/nyregion/jonathan-braun-resentencing.html The Characters in Paul Manafort's Career A supplement to The Atlantic's March issue cover story on Paul Manafort. https://www.theatlantic.com/membership/archive/2018/02/the-characters-in-paul-manaforts-career/552443/

Convicted felon Donald Trump got booed at an NFL game after our euphoric election. So the elites in Congress hit the panic button. This is World War III in America: oligarchy, Big Tech, and Democratic Senators obeying in advance. Here to help us get back on track is Evgeny Finkel, a historian at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, and the author of Intent to Destroy: Russia's Two-Hundred-Year Quest to Dominate Ukraine and other works on the anatomy of evil. He shares his advice for building an opposition to fascism in the U.S. and what he fears more than a MAGA dictatorship–a civil war. For our bonus episode this week, Gaslit Nation answers your questions about crisis, rising autocracy and more! To listen to the bonus, subscribe to our Patreon at the Truth-Teller level ($5/month) or higher. We are extremely grateful to our listeners who are keeping us afloat during very difficult economic circumstances. Every bit of support helps give us the freedom to tell the truth, so thank you again for making Gaslit Nation possible! Want to hear Gaslit Nation ad-free? Join our community of listeners for bonus shows, exclusive Q&A sessions, our group chat, invites to live events like our Monday political salons at 4pm ET over Zoom, and more! Sign up at Patreon.com/Gaslit! Show Notes: Intent to Destroy Russia's Two-Hundred-Year Quest to Dominate Ukraine https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/eugene-finkel/intent-to-destroy/9781541604674/ Why We Must Inherit the Third American Revolution https://avantjournal.com/2024/04/08/why-we-must-inherit-the-third-american-revolution/ CLIP: Trump getting booed at an NFL game in Maryland: https://bsky.app/profile/acyn.bsky.social/post/3m5a7te2sva2q CLIP: https://bsky.app/profile/thetnholler.bsky.social/post/3m4y34obdzk2o CLIP: Sen. Angus King: "Standing up to Donald Trump didn't work" https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3m5bqhe6mrx26 CLIP: Q: Will you assure House Democrats they'll get a vote on ACA subsidies by a date certain? MIKE JOHNSON: Ah -- no. I'm not promising anyone anything. https://bsky.app/profile/atrupar.com/post/3m4xvxwbikg2h CLIP: George Carlin – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhqPHQcVeH0 Democrat Aftyn Behn's Chances of Winning GOP Tennessee House Seat—Polls https://www.newsweek.com/democrat-aftyn-behns-chances-of-winning-gop-tennessee-house-seat-polls-11024292 Aftyn Behn (D), Matt Van Epps (R), and four independent candidates are running in the special election for Tennessee's 7th Congressional District https://news.ballotpedia.org/2025/11/06/aftyn-behn-d-matt-van-epps-r-and-four-independent-candidates-are-running-in-the-special-election-for-tennessees-7th-congressional-district/ 8 Senators Break Ranks With Democrats and Advance G.O.P. Plan to End Shutdown Two of them are retiring, and none of the others face re-election in 2026. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/us/politics/senators-democrat-shutdown-vote.html Gil Duran: "In 2022, Peter Thiel protégé Balaji Srinivasan—formerly of Andreessen Horowitz and Coinbase—envisioned a Second American Civil War. He predicted it would be triggered by Bitcoin. This is how it would work" https://bsky.app/profile/gilduran.com/post/3m5decrbsv22n NEWS: The UK is no longer sharing intelligence with the US about suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean because it does not want to be complicit in US military strikes and believes the attacks are illegal, sources familiar with the matter told CNN. https://bsky.app/profile/natashabertrand.bsky.social/post/3m5efzunquc2n EVENTS AT GASLIT NATION: December 1st 4pm ET – Deaf Republic by Ilya Kaminsky + Total Resistance by H. Von Dach – Poetry and guerrilla strategy: tools for survival and defiance. Minnesota Signal group for Gaslit Nation listeners in the state to find each other: join here. Vermont Signal group for Gaslit Nation listeners in the state to find each other: join here. Arizona-based listeners launched a Signal group for others in the state to connect, available here. Indiana-based listeners launched a Signal group for others in the state to join, available here. Florida-based listeners are going strong meeting in person. Be sure to join their Signal group, available here. Have you taken Gaslit Nation's HyperNormalization Survey Yet? Gaslit Nation Salons take place Mondays 4pm ET over Zoom and the first ~40 minutes are recorded and shared on Patreon.com/Gaslit for our community

To listen to the full bonus show, subscribe at Patreon.com/Gaslit for ad free shows, all bonus shows, exclusive events, support independent journalism, and more at Patreon.com/Gaslit. "We can respond to oligarchy and authoritarianism with the strength it fears, not the appeasement it craves." – Zohran Mamdani Welcome to the Gaslit Nation Election Super Special – a block party celebrating the proud American tradition of punching Nazis. Election Day 2025 will go down in history as D-Day for democracy. Terrell Starr joins Andrea to break down what these nationwide victories mean for the future, from the midterms and beyond. It's clear who Americans blame for the government shutdown. The blue tsunami showed up and reshaped the map, literally. In Virginia, Abigail Spanberger made history as the state's first woman governor as Democrats swept the governorship, lieutenant governorship, and attorney general, with nearly every county shifting blue. In New Jersey, Mikie Sherrill became the first Democratic woman to lead the state, with Democrats gaining seats across the legislature. Our people-powered victories weren't a "blue bubble" story as Donald Trump wants you to believe. Democrats flipped two seats in Mississippi, two statewide offices in Georgia, won the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and wiped GOP control off the Bucks County school board. Colorado voted to feed kids, Charlotte funded transit, Maine rejected voter suppression, progressive D.A.s Larry Krasner in Philadelphia and Alvin Bragg in Manhattan won re-election, and California overwhelmingly voted for redistricting self-defense against GOP autocracy. More on the redistricting battle in future episodes. And in New York City, Zohran Mamdani, just 34, the city's first Muslim mayor and the youngest since 1982, the first candidate to get over 1 million votes since 1969, delivered a victory speech so electric it could light up Times Square, reminding us that unity and humanity are the real antidotes to greed and fear. The fascists forced a fight, and democracy punched back. This is only the beginning. Thank you to every Gaslit Nation listener who voted, who showed up for your community, for our shared livable future that we will build together, and who kept hope alive on our darkest days. We will overcome with our moral force and defiance. To listen to the full episode, join the Gaslit Nation community. Want to hear Gaslit Nation ad-free? Join our community of listeners for bonus shows, exclusive Q&A sessions, our group chat, invites to live events like our Monday political salons at 4pm ET over Zoom, and more! Sign up at Patreon.com/Gaslit! Show Notes: Zohran Mamdani announces all-female transition team as he prepares for New York mayoralty: Team includes Lina Khan, the FTC commissioner under Biden, and other Democratic former city officials https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/05/zohran-mamdani-transition-team From Michael Moore's 2018 Trump-era epic, Fahrenheit 11/9. In this scene, President Obama comes to Flint amidst the poisoned water crisis. His appearance left the residents of Flint stunned. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvlcI2TmfdI Nearly all Virginia counties shift blue as Democrats win big across commonwealth: Democrats won Virginia's top three offices and expanded their majority in the House of Delegates. https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/politics/elections/virginia-democrats-republicans-elections-balance-of-power/65-2dd07df2-7f70-4a03-b965-f22f39292c9b Election 2025: A Blue Wave in Bucks County as Democrats Sweep Row Offices, Dominate Races Across the County (LIVE Results) https://buckscountybeacon.com/2025/11/election-2025-bucks-county-and-statewide-pennsylvania-live-results/ The Candidates Who Made History In The 2025 Elections From New York City to Detroit, five candidates broke the glass ceiling. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/historic-firsts-2025-elections_n_690b3976e4b09953a605f0ed?origin=home-zone-b-unit Clip: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQjxCjZAK1k/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link Clip: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQqgszTDD6k/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link Clip: https://bsky.app/profile/kendrawrites.com/post/3m4uzjgs6tk2m 'Absolute terror': Day care teacher detained by ICE agents on Chicago's North Side https://wgntv.com/news/chicago-news/video-daycare-teacher-detained-by-ice-agents-on-chicagos-north-side/ Voters Soundly Reject Trump's Plot to Rig the Next Election On Tuesday, Democrats passed new congressional maps, defeated GOP attempts to make it harder to vote, and protected pro-democracy judges. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/11/election-trump-newsom-california-redistricting-gerrymandering-pennsylvania-judges-maine-voter-id/ Beshear: Let me be clear. The president has both the funding and the authority to fund snap during a shutdown. In fact, every other president in every other shutdown has done so. People going hungry in this instance is a choice that this president has made. https://bsky.app/profile/acyn.bsky.social/post/3m4vioc3kvg2f How Zohran Mamdani Beat Back New York's Elite and Was Elected Mayor The 34-year-old assemblyman won the Democratic primary by defying the city's all-powerful establishment. He secured the mayoralty by delicately disarming it https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/nyregion/how-zohran-mamdani-won-nyc-mayor.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare Mamdani Did All the Things the Establishment Hates. He Won Anyway. There's a growing appetite for something new and innovative growing among the electorate—and an opportunity for Democrats to grow that electorate, as well. https://newrepublic.com/article/197247/mamdani-versus-establishment-democrats-cuomo A Little-Noted Element Propelled Mamdani's Rise: Gen Z Loneliness Members of Gen Z found something unexpected in the mayoral race: a chance to hang out. Their enthusiasm turned into real votes. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/04/nyregion/mamdani-young-voters.html?unlocked_article_code=1.y08.95dX.Kxm_9AhFCK5b&smid=url-share The Billionaires Who Failed to Stop Zohran Mamdani, and How Much They Spent https://time.com/7331119/zohran-mamdani-billionaires-ackman-bloomberg/ Va. House pushes through last-minute redistricting amendment as GOP cries foul The 51-42 vote follows fiery debate over whether the General Assembly should re-draw congressional lines mid-decade to counter actions in other states. https://virginiamercury.com/2025/10/29/va-house-pushes-through-last-minute-redistricting-amendment-as-gop-cries-foul/ Daniel Nichanian. Editor in chief of @boltsmag.org provide an election results overview: https://bsky.app/profile/taniel.bsky.social/post/3m4uhevs76k2n FULL SPEECH: Zohran Mamdani's victory speech following historic NYC mayoral win https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOQT_4A1eb8

Is Donald Trump dying, or just decomposing in real time? He's slurring words, disappearing for days, and bragging that he "aced" an IQ test that was actually a dementia screening. Florida Man may be wilding out destroying our White House, but his VP seems to be circling. It looks like JD Vance is wasting no time trying to lock down the Christian nationalist vote by publicly humiliating his Hindu wife Usha and cuddling up to Charlie Kirk's leather-clad widow. He's moving fast, which means he probably knows Trump's losing it even more than usual. Meanwhile, the Epstein cover-up continues with Vance's help, and Trump's cutting troops in Eastern Europe just as Putin ramps up his aggression across Europe. Here to tell us how to win the global war against fascism is Zarina Zabrisky, a Ukrainian-American investigative journalist sanctioned by Russia, and director of the new chilling film Kherson: Human Safari. It's Election Day in America. Don't miss Thursday's Gaslit Nation Election Special breaking down what the results mean for democracy and why we might still have nice things if we fight like hell. Want to hear Gaslit Nation ad-free? Join our community of listeners for bonus shows, exclusive Q&A sessions, our group chat, invites to live events like our Monday political salons at 4pm ET over Zoom, and more! Sign up at Patreon.com/Gaslit! Show Notes: Watch Zerina Zabrisky's powerful film for free and spread the word about Russia's human safaris in Ukraine https://khersonhumansafari.com/ United Nations report: Russian army committing murder in Ukraine: Independent rights commission https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/10/1166189 Epstein, Trump, and Russia [TEASER] https://gaslitnation.libsyn.com/epstein-trump-and-russia-teaser Trump and Epstein Super Special https://gaslitnation.libsyn.com/trump-epstein-super-specialteaser 'Everyone wants him out': How Musk helped boot Ramaswamy from DOGE: Ramaswamy is leaving the so-called Department of Government Efficiency and plans to run for Ohio governor. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/20/doge-musk-helped-eject-ramaswamy-00199487 JD Vance repeats comments he wants wife Usha to convert to Christianity US: vice-president announces to 10,000 attenders of Turning Point USA that he prefers wife, who is Hindu, to be Christian https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/nov/01/jd-vance-usha-christianity JD Vance and Erika Kirk's Warm Hug at Turning Point Event Goes Viral: The vice president joined Charlie Kirk's widow at a Turning Point USA event on Wednesday night, leading to an emotional embrace on the stage https://people.com/jd-vance-erika-kirk-hug-11841052 Donald Trump Confuses Dementia Screening for 'Very Hard' IQ Test as He Brags About Results: The president predicted that Democratic Reps. Jasmine Crockett and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez could not perform as well as he did in a cognitive exam https://people.com/donald-trump-mistakes-dementia-screening-for-iq-test-11837935 Trump's MRI scan raises specter of secrecy in presidential health https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5584101-trump-mri-raises-questions/ Trump says he received an MRI during trip to Walter Reed medical center https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/27/politics/donald-trump-mri-health-walter-reed Trump, 79, Veers From Left to Right in Walk Across Red Carpet https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-79-veers-from-left-to-right-in-walk-across-red-carpet/ New conspiracies over Trump's health swirl after text interview with CNN's Jake Tapper: The president famously does not use email and is not known to frequently use text messages https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-health-cnn-interview-b2840195.html Donald Trump Photographed on Labor Day Amid Baseless Death Rumors https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-photographed-labor-day-amid-baseless-death-rumors-2122752 Maxwell stole 'distressed' girl's passport and tried to make her have sex, billionaire's chef said: Second tranche of documents released on Thursday largely focused on legal squabbles over Virginia Giuffre's lawsuit https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2024/01/05/epstein-documents-dubin-chef-evidence-maxwell-girl-sex/ JPMorgan Alerted U.S. to Epstein Transfers Involving Wall St. Figures: After Jeffrey Epstein's 2019 death, the bank reported more than $1 billion in potentially suspicious transactions. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/business/jpmorgan-jeffrey-epstein.html?unlocked_article_code=1.x08.UJOB.xraoIWQOBZmq&smid=url-share Pentagon cuts troops in Eastern Europe: Prompting rare pushback by GOP lawmakers Top Republicans say the move sends the 'wrong signal' to Vladimir Putin. https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics/pentagon-cuts-troops-eastern-europe-prompting-rare-pushback/story?id=126987334 Ukraine's Abandoned Zoo Animals Urgently Need Our Help https://www.thedodo.com/ukraines-animals-urgently-need-768023636.html Pentagon considering proposal to cut thousands of troops from Europe, officials say: Experts warn that the timing of the potential drawdown could alarm NATO allies and embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/pentagon-considering-proposal-cut-thousands-troops-europe-officials-sa-rcna199603 As Russia Grows Reckless, Europe Gets Serious: https://www.legion.org/information-center/news/landing-zone/2025/november/as-russia-grows-reckless-europe-gets-serious Pentagon cuts troops in Eastern Europe, prompting rare pushback by GOP lawmakers https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics/pentagon-cuts-troops-eastern-europe-prompting-rare-pushback/story?id=126987334 Vivek DESTROYED by the monsters HE CREATED https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4liErm6uEFk&t=51s Thomas Massie's voting record with Republicans in Congress is 83-percent: https://heritageaction.com/scorecard/members/m001184 JD Vance//Massie clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqyocMoiTbQ NKY Rep. Thomas Massie only one of two Republican votes against 'Big Beautiful Bill' in House https://www.wlwt.com/article/massie-one-of-2-republican-votes-against-big-beautiful-bill/65300423 Election Day Clip: https://bsky.app/profile/terilg.bsky.social/post/3m4tjwfupg22j Epstein, Trump, and Russia [TEASER] https://gaslitnation.libsyn.com/epstein-trump-and-russia-teaser Trump and Epstein Super Special https://gaslitnation.libsyn.com/trump-epstein-super-specialteaser